The main things I'm watching for from Texas in this game are the ball handling of the team, movement away from the ball, and perimeter defense. These have tended to be weaknesses of Barnes' teams at Texas over the years, but so far it looks like this collection is his best yet. Arizona will be the first true test.
1) Flying Under The Radar: We may be putting up huge points but very few people outside of Texas have watched the Horns this year. Box scores look great but are being discounted because of the competition. Perhaps rightfully so, more likely not. We'll still hang a hundred on some good teams this year.
2) The TJ Effect: How could we lose TJ Ford and still be as good of a team, let alone better? An easy answer for those of us that know the team well -- depth, senior leadership, and Rick Barnes. But there's a reason we started outside of the Top 10 this year. TJ's departure has cost us 10 spots in the polls but there sure as hell aren't 10 teams out there better than us.
3) Perimeter Attack: Mouton, Taylor, Harris, and Boddicker can all go off at any time. We won't get as many open looks against Zona, but the ones we do will likely count for 3. Even Klotz, Buckman, and Ivey have hit from long range.
4) Depth in the Post: Thomas will assert his presence on the glass even if he only scores 7 pts. James has had a relatively quiet year so far but he comes to play in the big ones. We can leave the scoring up to Buckman. Klotz is also always good for 6-8 in games like these. Freshman PJ Tucker won't get as many minutes in this game but you can believe he'll make his presence known. He's a tank that drives like a sports car. Channing Frye has bulked up a bit, but he still plays a finesse game in the paint and although he's become very good at it these four will wear anybody down eventually.
I'll be shocked if Texas loses this game. I think Arizona is a stronger team 1-6, but Texas is a bad matchup, and with that lean of a roster, they're going to have challenging moments against good matchups, however talented their few players are.
I'll play the ML also but I imagine the line will open at around 3-6 in favor of Texas. Anything less, I'll be asking Anthony Richkas for a comprehensive loan.
